Friday, April 29, 2016

Whew, the end of April is flying by! We have had some of the loveliest days, and if April is this good, I am excited to see what May and June will bring! Steve's teaching jobs at the universities are wrapping up this next week, and I can't believe that he will switch into "summer" mode so soon.

Our week was really nice, especially after we just had a sick week. We're about to get some rainy days now, but the sun has been out, and we've taken full advantage of that. :)

Last weekend, we were walking through Walmart and we found a new Paw Patrol Color Wonder book! The boys had to have it, of course. And they have made short work of it :) Because Color Wonder books are so expensive, we like to scan the pages first so that we can print off regular coloring pages with it later.

I found the colored pages on the couch like this :)

I gradually took down most of our Easter decor, leaving behind a simple spring mantel, which I love.

Mama Robin came back to our house this year! I get so much joy out of watching her weave together each piece of her nest, mudding it to the wall, and sitting so patiently (for two weeks!) on these gorgeous blue eggs. By next weekend, we should have some babies!

I peek at her quite often every day, and she doesn't seem too freaked out by me. I mean, she was the one who built her nest two feet above our living room window. She sees a lot of our movement and gets to hear the boys playing and yelling all day :)

I climbed up with my big camera and got a slightly clearer photo of the four eggs. They are my absolute favorite color!

We spent some time at Lowe's this week, and the boys' new favorite section is the tractors/riding lawnmowers.

We do our date nights at home, and this night called for a special treat, "The Tonight Dough" :) :)

At Lowe's, we bought new sand to fill the turtle sandbox. Nolan couldn't wait to get in it!

This week's #thedarlingdetails on Instagram is Mom Uniform! This is mine--skinny jeans, a colorful tank, and a lightweight, neutral cardigan. If you're on IG, take a photo of your #momuniform today and share it with @astleigh_hill and me!

On Wednesday, we met up with my friend Dianna and her three boys at the park. This park has a cool wooden train, a playset, swings, and the beach! All five boys were having so much fun, they could have stayed there all day :)

Endless sandbox. We will have to come back soon with toys!

All that playing makes for a sleepy boy! Ephraim ended up in my bed yesterday morning, and I couldn't be mad. :)

I'm not sure what kind of tree these are, but they bloom so beautifully the last week of April/first week of May. I wish they were pink all summer!

Steve is so amazing. He made Nolan these train names out of Duplos yesterday afternoon. I don't have the creativity to construct much out of Duplos, so I was in awe!

Nolan is on a huge Thomas kick right now, so this made him super happy.

Today is Arbor Day, and as a former Nebraskan (home of Arbor Day), I thought the boys and I should talk trees! We made these pretzel trees, piping green Candy Melts for the leaves, and crushed Oreos for the dirt. They lift right off of wax paper when they're dry, so they make cute treats :)

I'm not totally sure he understood that these were supposed to be trees, but he definitely thought they were delicious. :)

Friday, April 22, 2016

I really look forward to sitting down on Thursday nights and writing these weekly recap posts. I am recording our little family's memories, and I will love perusing these posts forever and ever, I'm sure. We have really enjoyed being outside this week. Spring is in full force. There are baby leaves on our blueberry and raspberry bushes, our grass is plenty long enough to mow, and I've been watching Mama Robin weave an intricate nest on our porch. (She's back for the second year in the same spot!) Despite this warm week, our boys have been sick with coughs and fevers. :( Nolan started coming down with something a week ago, and Ephraim caught it a few days later. Fingers crossed they are both well by tomorrow!

Last Saturday, Steve took his middle-school youth group to play Lazer Tag, which is attached to our favorite ice cream spot. He came home, picked us up, and we headed back there for a few scoops :)

This is him basically saying, "Cookie Dough is good, mama, but your "Death by Chocolate" looks better!"

A bowl of strawberry ice cream for Mr. Nolan.

When he's in a good mood, he's such a little ham!

The ice cream place has goats, so we went to check them out.

We were hoping Nolan would be well enough for church the next morning, but he still had a fever. He burst into tears when we told him he couldn't go! It was the saddest, sweetest thing.

We spent the morning watching Veggie Tales and cuddling in our jammies.

And when you're under the weather, chocolate chip pancakes are always a good idea.

A few days ago, Steve revived an old end table. I don't have a before picture, but it was all an orange-color wood, and it had plenty of markings and scratches on the top. He painted the legs white, and stained the top with a dark walnut. Isn't it so perfect?!

And for reasons like that, I fall more in love with this guy every day!

I was so excited that my outdoor tulips had buds, but due to our April snow, they aren't blooming. I had to cheer myself up with pink grocery store tulips :)

Also, Astleigh and my Instagram #thedarlingdetails topic this week is #blueskies. Snap a photo today of what the blue skies look like where you are, and share it with us! We'll choose one to post on our feeds tonight.

Playing outside in the rice table.

On Tuesday, Nolan was feeling back-to-normal, and Ephraim was totally fine, so they were going to go to my mom's house so I could go to a Progressive Dinner with my MOPS group. The boys and I were picking up a few things from the store, and we had already gone through check-out when Ephraim started throwing up! He had a slight fever, so we went home, and he slept it off. I was bummed to miss the Progressive Dinner to stay home with my sick buddy. . .

. . . But Steve got home from work, and I was able to make it to the dessert house!

I am so grateful to have these great friends! Love them!

Last night, I saw a beautiful pink magnolia tree blooming in our neighborhood, and it made me think of baby Tyler. My cousin Emily wrote this on Facebook a few days ago,

"'I will turn their mourning into joy, I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.' Jeremiah 31:13. We planted a magnolia tree for Tyler - known to bloom beautifully at this time of year."

I was SO sad not to go to Minnesota for Tyler's memorial service on Monday. I was about three seconds away from tossing the boys in the car and driving the 15 hours by myself, but my plans started to unravel as soon as Nolan started getting sick. We're looking forward to listening to a recording of the service soon, and hopefully we will get to visit Minnesota this summer.

So happy for the first day of shorts weather! I love seeing those little legs (and those big smiles too!)

Friday, April 15, 2016

Hello, beautiful Friday. The weather forecast on my phone shows seven sunny days in our future, with temps near 70, and I am very happy about that. We are so ready to spend our afternoons outside playing in the dirt, and we will love taking time in the evenings for walks around the neighborhood together.

Earlier in the week, I caught a sweet moment of the boys eating popcorn in their PJs, probably watching Thomas or Chuggington. Man, does Ephraim love trains!

Ivy girl always wants in on the popcorn action.

Saturday morning, we woke up to a few inches of snow. Snow?! When I was in college, there was a Facebook group called, "Still snowing in May? Yeah, I live in the Midwest." I think of that often. You just never know when the last snow will fall. We threw on our heavy coats and boots, and headed to Lowe's for "Build and Grow" workshop day. Ephraim was signed up for his first project, but just like previous times, his favorite thing to do at Lowe's is watch this washing machine with a TV screen on it. He at least had the hammer in his hand (and luckily didn't break the screen). :)

The boys made wooden birdhouses! And Mormor & Papa Don bought them a big bag of birdseed, which we'll have to get out this weekend, now that it's nice out.

So hard to smile with a lollipop in your mouth. :)

Hanging out on the John Deere! He threw a lay-down-on-the-floor fit when it was time to get off this thing.

When we got home, Nolan and Daddy built a snowman. For the first time all winter. . . on April 9!

Saturday night, we had dinner with good friends (our pastor and his wife), and their son's touring rock band.

The boys did really well at keeping themselves entertained. They stayed for an exceptionally long time in the dog's kennel :)

The band guys and Nolan built an awesome Lincoln Log creation.

Somehow, we ended up watching SNL videos on a phone to wrap up the night :)

This week's #thedarlingdetails theme on Instagram is #nailenvy. Take a photo today of your nails or favorite colors, use our hashtags, and tag @astleigh_hill and @rachel.zimm. We'll choose one to post on our feeds tonight.

Yesterday, we spent a couple of hours outside--weeding, kicking a ball around, and blowing bubbles.

He can't quite blow bubbles yet, but he tried, and it was adorable.

Nolan started a dandelion collection and a rock collection. This could probably keep him going all summer--there are plenty of each in our yard!

The three of us took a walk last night on some hilly roads that have a pretty view of town.

Stopping to smell some purple flowers :)

Love this boy! He talks nonstop and oozes personality.

Even though the boys have had a really good week, it cannot go without saying that this week has been heartbreaking for me and for my extended family. On Monday morning, we heard the tragic news that my cousin Emily's sweet baby boy had been taken to the hospital in St. Paul because he was found not breathing during his morning nap. He was able to live for two more days on life support, and we all prayed so hard for a miracle, but baby Tyler Dale went home to be with Jesus on Wednesday morning. I didn't have the privilege of meeting Tyler in his short three-and-a-half months, but I know that he brought deep joy to his family. I really have no words but to say that my mama heart is so broken for them. We will always love you and miss you, Tyler.

Please keep this sweet family in your prayers--Emily, Rob, and three-year-old Mackenzie.